Culver orders Fire Station 13 territory change over objections

The Wicomico County executive is proceeding to award territory to a group of volunteer firefighters who split with the Salisbury Fire Department, saying he and the members of the new Station 13 have the backing of county fire chiefs.

"I'm still in support of the volunteers and the fire chiefs," County Executive Bob Culver said Monday.

The move would have Station 13 take over part of the Salisbury Fire Department’s territory outside the Salisbury bypass on Sept. 15, which city and other Wicomico County officials say is a violation of the fire service agreement.

“It’s just shocking that an elected official would flaunt the law,” said Salisbury Mayor Jake Day.

County Council President John Cannon said he learned the county’s Emergency Services staff has been instructed to continue mapping out territory and drafting mutual aid agreements, even after council members asked Culver to stop the process.

Now Cannon and other council members want answers from Culver.

“We have no idea what’s going on,” he said. “You can’t run government in the dark.”

Cannon said Culver will be asked to attend a County Council work session on Sept. 5 to explain.

BACKGROUND: The Salisbury volunteer firefighters split: A timeline

Under a new fire service agreement between the city and county, any changes have to have the approval of the city, county and the Wicomico County Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association. A map attached to the new contract delineates the territories for all three Salisbury fire stations, but not for Station 13.

City Council members made clear they do not want to award territory to the firefighters, and plan to abide by the fire service agreement with Wicomico County. 

The County Council has not taken any action so far, but in a July 5 letter to Culver, Cannon called for a halt to a plan to award territory to the firefighters, saying such a move violates the fire service agreement with the city.

“Further, this agreement specifically states that the Salisbury Fire District may only be amended by agreement of the county, the city and the Wicomico County Chiefs Association,” he said.

READ MORE: Breakaway volunteer firefighters sue Salisbury

Cannon’s letter was in response to June 27 correspondence from Culver to David Shipley, the county’s director of emergency services, authorizing him to assign the area outside of the Salisbury bypass currently covered by Salisbury’s Station 1 to the new Station 13.

Cannon said he never received a response to his letter, but later received an email from Wayne Strausburg, the county’s director of administration, that “there is no need to pursue the matter further” in light of the city’s decision.

“The executive has, therefore, instructed me to cancel our endorsement regarding the matter,” Strausburg wrote.

Culver later said there was a misunderstanding.

Day said the city was notified by Emergency Services staff that they were working on a plan to award territory to Station 13. Fire Chief Rick Hoppes responded in an email that doing so was a violation of the contract between the city and county, he said.

READ MORE: Station 13 firefighters hit obstacles with funding, equipment questions

Culver said he did not stop the Emergency Services staff from proceeding because the matter of Station 13 is still unresolved.

"We're just getting all the preliminary work done," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen on Sept. 15."

The dispute over fire territory could end up being resolved through arbitration, Culver said.

"I'm not sure where it goes from here," he said.

Meanwhile, the firefighters are facing other challenges in their efforts to start a fire station and gain their own territory.

The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore is withholding money from an endowment for volunteer fire companies, and the Maryland State Firemen’s Association has determined the station, formerly known as Company 1, doesn’t meet standards to retain its membership in the organization, according to documents obtained by The Daily Times.

Cory Polidore, chief of Station 13, said in a previous interview that the company was expecting $25,000 from the Lacy Fund.

On Monday, Polidore said the fire company is addressing the Community Foundations concerns.

Also, the Standards Committee of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association said the fire company “did not possess all of the facilities and equipment required to maintain membership in the MSFA as required by Article I Section 2 of the MSFA Constitution,” the committee chairman Ken Bush said in his report.

“To date, the writer has received no information indicating that the Salisbury Fire Department, Inc. Co. 1 is in possession of the facilities or equipment required to meet the standards of this Association, and no field verification of the status of that department has been completed by the MSFA Standards Committee,” Bush said in his report.

Polidore said an inspection of the station will be scheduled prior to Sept. 15.

BACKGROUND: 10 volunteer firefighters resign amid feud

The dispute between the city and the firefighters started the night of Feb. 22 when Company 1, the volunteer unit at Salisbury's Station 1 on Beaglin Park Drive, announced it would separate from the Salisbury Fire Department effective July 1 after the city refused to participate in formal mediation to iron out disputes.

But Day ordered them off the premises immediately. Since then, the firefighters have tried to gain part of Station 1's territory outside the Salisbury bypass.

On Facebook, Station 13 members recently posted a photo of the company’s new engine, which now has station decals added to it. The firefighters also have been holding weekly chicken barbecues at their Snow Hill Road headquarters.

On June 30, the fire company reached a partial agreement with the city that allows them to take possession of some items housed at city Station 1 they say belong to them. Polidore has said the items include furniture computers, a vending machine, TV sets and exercise equipment.

Following a hearing in Wicomico County District Court, attorneys for both sides said the agreement does not include apparatus or operational equipment. The ownership of those items is still under dispute.

Twitter: @LizHolland5